Different communities gathered at the City Centre to embark on what was supposed to be a peaceful Cape Town protest but resistance from riot police saw things turn violent.
Cape Town protests: City’s by-laws under the spotlight
Once again, issues of service delivery and the City of Cape Town’s oppressive by-laws have come under fire.
One Cape Town protester who spoke to News24‘s Marvin Charles explained that Friday’s march was a direct retaliation against a recently passed by-law which, in the view of the Woodstock resident, criminalises the homeless and desperate land occupiers.
On 29 September 2021, the City of Cape Town’s council approved amendments to the Streets, Public Places and Prevention of Noise Nuisances by-law, as well as approved the criminalisation of unlawful occupation of land and buildings.
Refusing to yield to growing calls for more progressive tactics in dealing with homeless people, the City’s amended by-law now stipulates that law enforcement officials must first issue a compliance notice to people found sleeping on the street before they are offered alternative shelter. If this is refused, then homeless people may be hauled to court and slammed with a fine.
The newly enacted unlawful occupations by-law, on the other hand, gives law enforcement powers that overreach the prescripts of the Prevention of Illegal Evictions and Unlawful Occupation of Land (PIE) Act.
Under this by-law, persons found to be occupying land and buildings unlawfully, whether it is at the city centre or in townships, will be forcibly evicted and could face criminal charges.
According to Mayco member Malusi Booi, this approach is necessary for the greater good of Cape Town.
“The City will always act to protect municipal land from unlawful occupation attempts, and to prevent the hazards and hardships that come with occupying unsafe land. With this by-law, we are also laying the foundation for enhanced informal settlement upgrading, through closer management of settlement growth and protection of upgrade plans. In this way, we will improve living conditions for more people, and protect land for future generations and community needs,” Booi said.
Protesters accuse DA of being ‘racist’
On Friday, organisations representing different communities in the Mother City made their voices heard and the plan was to picket outside the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) provincial office.
However, things quickly turned sour when police clashes with demonstrators. One protester was left unconscious at the Grand Parade and it’s alleged she was assaulted by law enforcement officials.
Finally, protesters made it to the DA’s provincial offices where a number of leaders, including newly recruited member of the Patriotic Alliance (PA) Loyiso Nkohla accused the DA-run government of being racists.
Protesters have also thrown jabs at candidate mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis for refusing to address them. These were some of the videos of the unrest that surfaced on social media:
Buhle Booi, head of organising for NU explains what happened at this mornings' peaceful protest where stun grenades were fired without warning: "We will go lay criminal charges against Captain Prince…" #HousingnotHandcuffs #ProtestCapeTown #Stungrenades #CityofCapeTown pic.twitter.com/b41v1avTrC
— Ndifuna Ukwazi (@NdifunaUkwazi) October 15, 2021
A group of people protesting against the City of Cape Town's new by-laws were met with stun grenades as Law Enforcement and Public Order Police disperse the crowd. @TimesLIVE @CityofCT @WesternCapeGov pic.twitter.com/7zH7Z0RK48
— Esa Alexander (@ezaap) October 15, 2021
The way that police react to a peaceful protest on the housing crisis and against the City of Cape Town’s bylaws. Remember this the next time there’s an antivax march on the promenade… pic.twitter.com/4EvVZ0b0yZ
— Matthew Hirsch (@MattHirsch08) October 15, 2021